Photo: Waterloo Region’s tech sector had much to celebrate in 2013, including several major investments in local companies

As much as we tech types like to focus our eyes forward, the holidays are always a good time to reflect on what we’ve managed to pull off during the previous year.

After sifting through the highlights of 2013, I’m prepared to say that objects in the Communitech rear-view mirror seem even more awesome than they originally appeared.

Let’s take it month-by-month.

January

The year started with a bang in the form of high praise from a respected source: Paul Graham, founder of California’s fabled Y Combinator accelerator, which has spawned the likes of Dropbox, reddit and Airbnb. In a feature article in Fast Company, Graham said, “Something is going on in Waterloo, because the applications we get from Waterloo students are better than those we get from students of any other university.”

Days later, YC partner Harj Taggar expanded on that theme in an interview with Communitech, during a visit to Waterloo Region.

Also in January, BlackBerry launched its BB10 platform to impressive reviews, providing a base from which the Waterloo-based smartphone maker – which turns 30 in 2014 – continues to rebuild. The process has been tough, with significant staff reductions, but our tech community will continue to rally behind our friends, neighbours and colleagues.

February

Communitech made space its next frontier as FedDev Ontario’s Technology Development Program chose us to spearhead a commercial cluster around data collected by small satellites. The program, initially called Intelligent Media Networks and since renamed DATA.BASE, involves numerous partners working to extract value from all manner of information the satellites can gather.

Closer to Earth but no less otherworldly, Thalmic Labs opened online pre-orders of its MYO gesture-control armband and found 10,000 customers in the first two days. The frenzy set the stage for more good news at Thalmic (see June, below), which has since moved from the UW VeloCity Garage in the Communitech Hub into swish new digs just down the street in downtown Kitchener.

Thalmic was among Hub alumni to move out of the Tannery in 2013 and into spaces nearby, lending credence to the theory of “entrepreneurial density” espoused by American venture capitalist and author Brad Feld. During his first Waterloo Region visit in February, Feld cited that density when he remarked on the off-the-charts energy of the Hub’s startup community.

March

Feld was followed in March by a top-flight list of presenters at Communitech’s annual Tech Leadership Conference, which sold out.

That month, during one remarkable day, Vidyard announced it had raised a $6-million Series A funding round; Canadian Tire opened an innovation space in the Communitech Hub; CrossChasm landed in the finals of a White House-sponsored competition; and Communitech co-hosted a high-energy Mic Nite where startup entrepreneurs mingled with investors, artists and politicians.

April

Speaking of politicians, we hosted quite a few of our elected representatives again this year, including Premier Kathleen Wynne, who dubbed the Hub an example for Ontario during her first official visit in April.

In another first, Kitchener-Waterloo’s first Startup Weekend took up residence in the Hub that month, and quickly established itself as an event worth repeating (another was held in September).

In yet another first, a Communitech HYPERDRIVE startup, Incentivibe, was acquired by Waterloo-based Rebellion Media.

Communitech’s five-year digital strategy showed strong results just three years in, and HYPERDRIVE held its Cohort 2 Demo Day, while in funding news, Waterloo’s Kik Interactive raised a $19.5-million Series B round.

May

More funding news followed in May, when Pebble and Auvik Networks respectively raised $15 million and $6 million in Series A investment.

Canadian startups showed some swagger at Canada 3.0, the annual conference of Communitech’s national initiative, the Canadian Digital Media Network (CDMN).

We capped off the month with an appearance by Guy Kawasaki, special adviser to Google’s Motorola division and former Apple evangelist. Guy even managed to squeeze in some hockey while he was in town.

June

With summer about to blossom, Thalmic Labs revealed it had raised $14.5 million in Series A funding, paving the way for its subsequent move into its new Charles Street headquarters.

Communitech Hub tenant Eyedro Green Solutions, meanwhile, took on a major investment from Waterloo North Hydro to grow its electricity usage monitoring business.

Intel announced it would host weekly office hours for innovators at the Communitech Hub, and former Well.ca CEO Ali Asaria told us all about Tulip, his digital platform to help traditional retailers compete in today’s hyperconnected, mobile world.

July

Reza Moridi, Ontario’s Minister of Research and Innovation, toured the Communitech Hub and other key sites during his first official visit to Waterloo in July, and commented on the “whole chain of innovation” he witnessed in action.

Geeks and guitars came together at the inaugural Tech Sessions arts event at the Communitech Hub.

HYPERDRIVE, meanwhile, unveiled some changes for its startup clients, just in time for the arrival of its third cohort of companies.

August

eSentire, the Cambridge-based cyber-threat prevention company, announced a $7-million financing round with New Jersey-based Edison Ventures, while Demeure, a Waterloo-based online travel marketplace, raised $4 million from about 50 private investors.

Meanwhile, on the heels of the previous month’s Tech Sessions event, a report noted the importance of music talent to the tech industry.

September

As summer drew to a close, the Communitech Women in Technology project was unveiled during a Hub visit by Dr. Kellie Leitch, Minister of Labour and Minister of Status of Women. That same week, Treasury Board of Canada President Tony Clement lauded the “world class” work Communitech is doing for Canada’s innovation economy.

As if to underscore the point, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey flew up from California to visit Waterloo Region, home to the Canadian development site for Square, his retail payment startup. Meanwhile, another U.S. firm, Motorola, announced it was setting up a Waterloo Region office of its own.

To underscore it further, Silicon Valley venture capitalist Katherine Barr paid a visit to the Hub, during the same week that Google chose Communitech as the sole Canadian node on its new North American Tech Hub Network.

October

As Waterloo Region’s tech community grows and evolves, its livability as an urban centre is becoming ever more important. In October, the region’s first CityAge conference took a two-day deep dive into the issues.

Wilfrid Laurier University launched a startup fund of $1 million, with a goal to raise $5 million, to be used by business students to make real investments as part of their education.

Communitech’s second annual Techtoberfest attracted another roster of rockstar speakers and a great crowd.

California-based NetSuite acquired Waterloo Region’s TribeHR in a deal that one analyst predicted will have a $10-billion impact.

UW’s VeloCity program announced plans to establish the Foundry, an incubator specifically for hardware startups. Waterloo Region landlords, meanwhile, are also considering the specific needs of early-stage companies when leasing space to them.

Kitchener-based hearing aid manufacturer Unitron celebrated as Dr. Henry Luo, one of its researchers, was named a recipient of a prestigious Ernest C. Manning Award for his work to mitigate acoustic shock for hearing aid users.

November

Melanie Baker returned as a Communitech guest columnist with a piece on Carol Leaman, CEO at Axonify.

Open Text, Canada's largest software company, became larger still through its US$1.17-billion acquisition of GXS Group Inc., the biggest in the Waterloo-based enterprise content management firm's history.

Ontario committed to investing another $15 million in Communitech over the next three years, while the CDMN, our national initiative, received a five-year investment of $8.75 million from the federal government.

Avenir Medical took a big step towards changing the way joint-replacement surgery is performed when its hardware was deployed in its first live surgery.

PumpUp appeared on CBC Dragon’s Den and learned that reality TV is often more about the TV than reality.

December

Communitech’s Tech Jobs Connex program picked up momentum as it continued to help displaced BlackBerry employees find new roles at other local firms.

A collaboration between the tech communities of Waterloo Region and Toronto to build a southern Ontario innovation “supercluster” took flight, attracting sustained media coverage and prompting high-level political discussion around intercity transit infrastructure. Local governments joined forces to make the case for two-way, all-day GO Train service, which will be key to building the supercluster. The business case presented to higher levels of government is compelling.

Campana Systems marked 25 years in business in Waterloo, recalling a time when support for startups was far less prevalent than it is today.

And finally, BufferBox co-founder Mike McCauley reflected on the past year since Google acquired the company and absorbed it into its Kitchener-Waterloo development office.

What will 2014 bring? Stay tuned.

In the meantime, happy holidays.

Anthony Reinhart is Communitech’s Director of Editorial Strategy and senior staff writer. View from the ‘Loo is a weekly look at the issues, people and events that shape Waterloo Region’s technology sector.